Page:The nature and elements of poetry, Stedman, 1892.djvu/169

Rh From our survey, after granting that only a few world-poems exhibit the absolute epic and dramatic impersonality, it by no means follows—in spite of common assertion—that the worth of Objectivity not the chief test of poetic genius. other poetry is determined by an objective standard. The degree of self-expression is of less moment than that of the poet's genius. Subjective work is judged to be inferior, I take it, from its morbid examples. The visits of the creative masters have been as rare as those of national demigods, and ordinary composers fall immeasurably short of their station. We have the perfect form, historical or fanciful impersonations, but few striking conceptions. The result is less sincere, less inevitable, than the spontaneous utterance of true poets who yield to the passion of self-expression.

Yet we have seen that a line can be rather clearly drawn between the pagan and Christian The old and new dispensations. eras, and that there has been a loss. To think of this as a loss without some greater compensation is to believe that modern existence defies the law of evolution and is inferior as a whole to the old; that the soul of Christendom, because more perturbed and introspective, is less elevated than that of antiquity. Contrast the two, and what do we find? First, a willing self-effacement as against the distinction of individuality; secondly, the simple zest of art-creation, as against the luxury of human